Dealership not interested in warranty work

[Bandito440]

Subaru has lowered the threshold for warranty repair of oil burning in the FB motors to one-third quart in 1,200 miles, from one quart in 1,200 miles.

That's a quart in 3,600 miles. I burn a quart in about 3,000.

The service advisor at the local dealership is giving me a hard time, first insisting that threshold hadn't changed, and then wanting to complete the oil burning test improperly. I've got that straightened out now and I'm in the middle of the test. I expect more trouble when I return to the dealership; they filled it above the full line prior to the test. The advisor was clearly irritated by my presence and uninterested in doing the work.

So, my question is this: Why would a dealership want to deny warranty work? Aren't they reimbursed by the factory? It seems like they'd be turning down business and income. I haven't worked in a retail operation for some time, but I can't imagine going out of the way to turn down business and push away a customer.

Aside from plain laziness, can anyone think of a reason that a dealership would want to turn down warranty work?

 

[oilmutt]

It pays 30% less than the dealership regular charges and with the 20% increase in sales why do warranty work?

 

[gabriel9766]

For one, warranty work pays the technician 30 to 50% less then what the normal job would pay.

 

[crazyoildude]

They have to warranty their work and they know these engines are troublesome so you might be back at square one and now they are married to you.. I may sound like a broken record but Lemon Law Is Your Friend!
I don't know what state you are in but in most cases lemon law works very well and its free but your time might be running out so act quick. Personally i would not want those monkeys in my new engine.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
For one, warranty work pays the technician 30 to 50% less then what the normal job would pay.


Yeah I think it's like 7/10 of book time. I am sure someone that works at a dealer will chime in.

 

[01rangerxl]

As with everything dealer, it varies.

Sounds like a service writer shutting you down before a tech even really looks at the car. Could be a lot of things at play there including general incompetence.

There is an assumption that dealers never want to do warranty work because it doesn't pay as much. It's true that it doesn't pay as much as full retail customer pay, but that doesn't mean it's a [censored] deal for the dealer either.

The GM dealer I work for is in a not so affluent area, and our shop is more than happy to do most warranty work and campaigns. There are of course some jobs the techs really don't want because the pay for warranty time on that particular job is bad, but other jobs are gravy. They love gravy like cam actuator solenoids, complete transmissions, or familiar things like cam/lifter jobs on AFM V8s. Other, more tedious stuff, not so much. It all depends.

Is this the only convenient Subaru dealer?

 

[expat]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
They have to warranty their work and they know these engines are troublesome so you might be back at square one and now they are married to you.. I may sound like a broken record but Lemon Law Is Your Friend!
I don't know what state you are in but in most cases lemon law works very well and its free but your time might be running out so act quick. Personally i would not want those monkeys in my new engine.


Funny how the quote is much longer?

Basicly I agree, they do not want it to become 'their' problem.

 

[Bandito440]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
For one, warranty work pays the technician 30 to 50% less then what the normal job would pay.
Yeah I think it's like 7/10 of book time. I am sure someone that works at a dealer will chime in.

Even then, they're still making $70/hr. I can't imagine they're losing money. Their regular rate is above $100/hr now.

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Is this the only convenient Subaru dealer?

It is, but I'll email another one with a better reputation if my local dealer denies the work.

 

[gabriel9766]

Originally Posted By: Bandito440
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
For one, warranty work pays the technician 30 to 50% less then what the normal job would pay.
Yeah I think it's like 7/10 of book time. I am sure someone that works at a dealer will chime in.

Even then, they're still making $70/hr. I can't imagine they're losing money. Their regular rate is above $100/hr now.

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Is this the only convenient Subaru dealer?

It is, but I'll email another one with a better reputation if my local dealer denies the work.
the tech is not making $70 hr. Most dealers r flat rate. So say u get payed $20hr and the job pays 1.0 hrs but the warranty only pays .6hr so if the job takes u the whole hour the tech looses money. Im payed a flat rate plus commission at my tech job, some jobs are a flat rate.

 

[mehullica]

I work at a dealer. Not Subaru but Lexus /Toyota. Warranty ALWAYS pays far less than normal customer pay work. As a repair technician you'll always lose money doing warranty work. In most cases the service writers makes absolutely no commission on warranty jobs, or commission only on labor. On top of that the commission is tied into a percentage tier based on their survey scores for the month. Toyota recently started to replace piston rings on the 2AZ engine for oil consumption. The job pays about 16-19 hours depending on the model. The job will take about 20-25 hours. After doing about 8 engine jobs, you might beat the time in 15-18 hours. Reasons like this are why the flat rate system is broken & customers don't like going to dealerships.

 

[gabriel9766]

Originally Posted By: mehullica
I work at a dealer. Not Subaru but Lexus /Toyota. Warranty ALWAYS pays far less than normal customer pay work. As a repair technician you'll always lose money doing warranty work. In most cases the service writers makes absolutely no commission on warranty jobs, or commission only on labor. On top of that the commission is tied into a percentage tier based on their survey scores for the month. Toyota recently started to replace piston rings on the 2AZ engine for oil consumption. The job pays about 16-19 hours depending on the model. The job will take about 20-25 hours. After doing about 8 engine jobs, you might beat the time in 15-18 hours. Reasons like this are why the flat rate system is broken & customers don't like going to dealerships.

+1

 

[Gasbuggy]

Not your problem who gets paid what. I would ruffle his feathers and then go over his head.

 

[expat]

Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
Originally Posted By: mehullica
I work at a dealer. Not Subaru but Lexus /Toyota. Warranty ALWAYS pays far less than normal customer pay work. As a repair technician you'll always lose money doing warranty work. In most cases the service writers makes absolutely no commission on warranty jobs, or commission only on labor. On top of that the commission is tied into a percentage tier based on their survey scores for the month. Toyota recently started to replace piston rings on the 2AZ engine for oil consumption. The job pays about 16-19 hours depending on the model. The job will take about 20-25 hours. After doing about 8 engine jobs, you might beat the time in 15-18 hours. Reasons like this are why the flat rate system is broken & customers don't like going to dealerships.

+1


Methinks: Do I want a guy working on my engine, thats trying his darndest to save a minute or two, so he can make his going rate?

 

[gabriel9766]

Originally Posted By: expat
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
Originally Posted By: mehullica
I work at a dealer. Not Subaru but Lexus /Toyota. Warranty ALWAYS pays far less than normal customer pay work. As a repair technician you'll always lose money doing warranty work. In most cases the service writers makes absolutely no commission on warranty jobs, or commission only on labor. On top of that the commission is tied into a percentage tier based on their survey scores for the month. Toyota recently started to replace piston rings on the 2AZ engine for oil consumption. The job pays about 16-19 hours depending on the model. The job will take about 20-25 hours. After doing about 8 engine jobs, you might beat the time in 15-18 hours. Reasons like this are why the flat rate system is broken & customers don't like going to dealerships.

+1


Methinks: Do I want a guy working on my engine, thats trying his darndest to save a minute or two, so he can make his going rate?
lets see you budget your bills not getting paid the full amount?

 

[Bandito440]

Thanks for the replies.

To summarize:

Employees get paid less per hour for warranty work, so there's less motivation for them.

The job market must be good if someone's turning up their nose to warranty work because it doesn't pay as much. I'd just be happy to have the business, but my perspective is different. Maybe I just need to find a dealer with a shop that's slower and looking for business.

To the dealership guys; what is an average hourly employee paid for regular shop work?

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

Originally Posted By: Shark
Not your problem who gets paid what. I would ruffle his feathers and then go over his head.


Yes, I would go to the general manager or owner, and let him know that you are NOT getting the customer service that you are entitled to. I wouldn't bother going to the service manager because the attitude of the service personal and their attitude comes down in most cases from that individual. I would also open up a ticket with Subaru as well, and speak to a district service manager.

 

[gabriel9766]

Originally Posted By: Bandito440
Thanks for the replies.

To summarize:

Employees get paid less per hour for warranty work, so there's less motivation for them.

The job market must be good if someone's turning up their nose to warranty work because it doesn't pay as much. I'd just be happy to have the business, but my perspective is different. Maybe I just need to find a dealer with a shop that's slower and looking for business.

To the dealership guys; what is an average hourly employee paid for regular shop work?

Some warranty work is gravy where the tech can beat it and be done correctly. Some stuff is just plain stupid. Im not in a dealer but i average $16 hr.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: Bandito440
Thanks for the replies.

To summarize:

Employees get paid less per hour for warranty work, so there's less motivation for them.

The job market must be good if someone's turning up their nose to warranty work because it doesn't pay as much. I'd just be happy to have the business, but my perspective is different. Maybe I just need to find a dealer with a shop that's slower and looking for business.

To the dealership guys; what is an average hourly employee paid for regular shop work?


The techs get paid book time. If the book says the job to replace rings is 16 hours, that is what they are paid even if it takes 22. The goal is to beat the clock and get paid more hours than worked, or just break even and get paid for the amount of hours worked. This is tough when dealing with certain jobs.

I am sure there are a number of nuances going on here, but when it boils down to them monkeying with confirming oil usage, getting approval from the manufacturer, marrying the engine it's not something they're likely to willingly pursue.

And at the end of the day, is the consumption so bad that you want it being rebuilt in car where the tech has little room to work and possibly introduces other issues?

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: mehullica
After doing about 8 engine jobs, you might beat the time in 15-18 hours. Reasons like this are why the flat rate system is broken & customers don't like going to dealerships.
This is unfortunate, the two Toyota Tech that I personally know are finishing the 2AZ-FE repairs in "I start at 7AM and by 3PM I'm testing driving the vehicle" I think one said he is done by 4-5PM. They were so happy, saying that they worked 40 hours and got paid twice that easily.

Its unfortunate in your case.

 

[Nate1979]

Originally Posted By: Bandito440
Subaru has lowered the threshold for warranty repair of oil burning in the FB motors to one-third quart in 1,200 miles, from one quart in 1,200 miles.

That's a quart in 3,600 miles. I burn a quart in about 3,000.

The service advisor at the local dealership is giving me a hard time, first insisting that threshold hadn't changed, and then wanting to complete the oil burning test improperly. I've got that straightened out now and I'm in the middle of the test. I expect more trouble when I return to the dealership; they filled it above the full line prior to the test. The advisor was clearly irritated by my presence and uninterested in doing the work.

So, my question is this: Why would a dealership want to deny warranty work? Aren't they reimbursed by the factory? It seems like they'd be turning down business and income. I haven't worked in a retail operation for some time, but I can't imagine going out of the way to turn down business and push away a customer.

Aside from plain laziness, can anyone think of a reason that a dealership would want to turn down warranty work?


Overfill by Subaru for the consumption test seems to be common. See this thread. Post #27 explain more about and why it might be a non issue.

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/...s/417090?page=3